During the PS4's lifespan, several first-party AAA action adventure games were released. This includes titles like a new God of War game, Uncharted 4, and Horizon: Zero Dawn, all seeing critical and commercial success. Not every one of Sony's first-party IPs have seen this acclaim, with one of the most polarizing being 2019's Days Gone. Many critics and fans lambasted the game, where it received middling reviews at launch, especially in comparison to other games released at the time. A former director of the game, Jeff Ross, has been speaking about various aspects of the game, including the design of Days Gone.
Ross has been quite vocal about the reception and sales of Days Gone in the past few weeks, especially in regard to fellow PlayStation first-party game Ghost of Tsushima. He's also been revealing various aspects about his time while at Bend Studio, including the failed pitch for a sequel, various ideas he wanted to take with it, and the game itself. One of his latest comments about Days Gone's development includes how he feels about the boss fights and how badly they ended up being in the final product.
Speaking with USAToday, Ross disclosed that many of the bosses in the game are badly designed and were working within the systems of what they had. He singled out Skizzo, one of the final bosses of the game, to be "terrible" in his own words. With the limitations that his team faced, he also said that scripting the game's AI was also a huge difficulty, especially with regard to maintaining the atmosphere. One example included Days Gone's stealth sections, where they had been programmed to a degree of "shooting on sight" but had trouble not having the player ending up in an unwinnable shootout.
Other things that restricted Days Gone included the budget and how it affected the overall pacing. Ross stated that all the cinematic cutscenes and voice over were done early in production, and that they had to implement it into the game in some way. This includes no re-shoots or cuts to the material that had been produced for the game, which in turn affected the boss fights. He notes that some segments weren't fun and designed to a minimalist degree, but also needed to be connected to the game's overall narrative without any exceptions.
Ross indicates that if given the chance, many of the underwhelming aspects of the game could be improved with a sequel to Days Gone. Not only does this include the gameplay mechanics of Days Gone, but other parts like the relationship between Deacon and Sarah and their story. However, given Ross' departure from Bend Studio in 2020 along with Sony's disinterest in continuing this IP, it is unlikely fans will get a sequel.
Days Gone is available now for PC and PS4.
Source: USAToday